


Haruhi Deserves Better, Hosts!

by waywardflower



Category: Ouran High School Host Club - All Media Types
Genre: Apologies, Cosmic Justice, Gen, Healthy Relationships, Redemption, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, accountability, and if theyre not they get an apology dangit, author dismantles rape culture and sexism bc freaking frick this episode keeps me up at night, emotional honesty, episode 8 fixit, fixit fic, srsly guys im so frustrated about this, survivors treated with respect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:54:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27470809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waywardflower/pseuds/waywardflower
Summary: A collection of endings that would make me feel better about episode 8. Because victim blaming is not okay, and threatening people is not okay, and Haruhi is dear to me and to the Host Club and they should treat her with more respect.Basically, I'm going to keep writing endings for this until I finally can sleep at night.
Relationships: Fujioka Haruhi & Morinozuka Takashi, Fujioka Haruhi & Ootori Kyouya, Fujioka Haruhi & Suoh Tamaki
Comments: 12
Kudos: 60





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The rules of this work will go as follows:
> 
> 1\. Haruhi will never get raped.  
> 2\. If someone threatens or harms Haruhi, on purpose or by accidental smothering, they will apologize and learn, be punished by the universe, or she will get genuine realistic emotional support to recover from unfairness in the world, because while some things can't be fixed, survivors and victims deserve support and protection and strength of their own. And I needed closure, so I'm making this fic about closure.
> 
> here's a blog post that i found helpful when i was going through my crisis about this:  
> https://soaringwingsblog.wordpress.com/2012/10/04/ouran-high-school-host-clubs-infamous-episode-8-a-study-on-rape-culture/

“Surely you aren’t so naive to think that a person’s sex doesn’t matter,” Kyouya said, hot breath on her face, arms caging her in.

At first, she was too confused to move. But then his words started clicking and everything crashed into place, and she finally understood what it was they were all so stupidly worried about.

“You’ve left yourself completely defenseless against me,” he told her.

She almost hesitated. But his eyes were unreadable. And she really didn’t like being pinned down and threatened. Her knee came up into his groin, hard.

He collapsed onto her, convulsing with pain. Now she was even more trapped, but the shock had finally worn off enough to make her angry.

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, Kyouya-senpai. Anyone would be defenseless if they let their guard down by trusting someone, or by  _ underestimating a threat.” _

When she finally squirmed her way out from underneath him, he glared up at her, still holding his crotch.

“Those girls needed help, and they would have been upset if I had stepped in or not. I’ll pay for the stupid flowers, but only because I’m sorry that there are jerks in the world that would hurt them like that,  _ not _ because I am sorry I for trying to protect them. And I’m not sorry for kicking you in the groin, either, so don’t you dare put that on my debt. You don’t threaten to rape people to scare them into not doing things!”

She stormed out, passing Tamaki-senpai on the way.

“Haruhi? What-”

“Senpai, I’m sorry I worried you but I refuse to stand aside while people need help. If you can’t understand that, then I can’t be your friend anymore!” she yelled, and he startled.

“Haruhi? I…”

She shook her head, stomping away.

* * *

Later that night, Tamaki would speak with Kyouya, and realize his own wrongdoing. And even though it still caused his blood to freeze to think of her plummeting off the cliff, he would see that she’d done something noble.

Tamaki would knock on her door, solemn. “Haruhi,” he would say through the door, “I’m sorry for yelling at you, and I’m sorry I said the things I did. Kyouya’s sorry, too. We’ve been awful to you. You are a girl, and you were doing something noble in saving those girls.”

But his knock would receive no answer.

“Haruhi, it really scared me to see you fall like that,” he would confess, then take another breath. “But I know that you were right to help. And so I promise you that the next time you rush into danger to protect someone else, I will be there with you. I will help you and we will protect each other.”

And there would be silence, again.

Twisting up his courage and all the bravado he would be able to muster, he’d give his last effort to reconcile tonight. “So, from now on, if you ever need help, I hope that you will think of us, the Host Club, and allow us to help you so that you can keep helping others!”

There would be a little cough, and Haruhi would reply, “Senpai, I-”

But then a thunderclap loud enough to rattle glass would shatter that sentence, and she would whimper.

“Haruhi? Are you alright?”

“I’m af-” Another flash of lightning would come, and the thunder would silence her again.

“Haruhi?” The panic would start to grip him. “C-can I come inside? Do you need help?”

“I need-”

More thunder, and a whimper.

“Haruhi-?”

“ _ Help,” _ she would finally say, and he’d open the door to find her shaking and he would comfort her and she would learn to trust him and not be afraid and he would understand that as the gift it was. To be trusted of Haruhi, who was always alone, who had never had anyone to lean on, and who wanted to try to trust someone outside herself to help. And he would not let her down.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Instead of Kyouya getting kicked in the pants, he makes a different decision. Kyouya centric.

Haruhi bursts into his room and goes straight for the bathroom, never even seeing him. Heaving noises ensue from within. He winces. Too much crab, then. He lays the towel down, grabbing his glasses so he can stand, but-

_ Should _ he go check on her?

For the hundredth time, the waves crash against that jagged rock and Haruhi plunges silent into dark water. He blinks it away.

Instead, he sits, toweling his hair, and wonders at her. Will she be awkward once she realizes he’s just finished showering? Hmm. Probably not. Oblivious or indifferent, Kyouya can never tell which, but Haruhi never seems flustered by that kind of thing.

That thought should be intriguing, but today there's only a churning in his gut. 

“All done?” Kyouya asks, once his bathroom door opens again. He doesn't look up.

“I’m sorry for intruding into the room of a stranger-" 

“How rude. It’s me.”

"Kyouya-senpai? Oh. I’m sorry, I seem to have gotten everyone worried about me.” 

He refuses to let it play again. Yet in crashes the sea, the fall, the silence of that terror. He just can't shake it.

And so the Shadow King must act.

Kyouya glances past her to the lightswitch, and draws up the words he needs.   


“I wasn’t particularly worried.” He stands, then drinks out of his water bottle. Cool, casual. That’s the key to this ruse.

He lays out the bait, recounting Hikaru and Kaoru’s scuffle with her attackers. Pinning his focus on his destination across the room, he spins some nonsense about bouquets and apologies to the girls. Kyouya doesn’t look at her once, even as he positions himself for the catch. In a way, it’s hosting. A careful dance made to look careless, subtly guiding her to the right outcome.

“I’ll pay for those flowers myself,” Haruhi promises, of course.

And his timing is precise. In the exact moment he lays out her six-figure mistake, he flips the lights off, and finally, Kyouya can turn to face her.

Something about the ruffles on her dress sends cold water splashing frantic up his insides. He takes another breath. He reaches down, drawing up the calculated cruelty he needs. He doesn’t  _ like _ playing the bad guy, but he is best equipped for it. And someone has to.

“Why did you turn the lights off?”

She’s stepped in the snare, the cold teeth of the trap must snap shut around her now. Now, or she’ll never see the danger as it should be.

But his eyes catch on her face, blurry in the dark but watching, open, patient—and the teeth don’t move. He doesn’t move.

“Senpai?”

She fidgets, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. Surely she senses the strangeness in the air.

“Senpai, you’re starting to worry me,” she starts cautiously.

Is he? Is he finally? He can hardly breathe, only he knows this isn’t enough. He grasps for his plan, the words that will make things right-

“Senpai, I’m sorry about the expense. Please don’t worry about it, I really will pay it off,” she tries, and he knows that she really means it. She gives him a look, gentler than a smile, something surreal and infuriatingly comforting in her very Haruhi way, and he chokes.

“Why didn’t you call for help, Haruhi?” he asks, relieved that his voice comes out so indifferent.

Haruhi sighs. “So you  _ were _ worried.”

A Kyouya with the lights on would fill this space with words, flooding it with hurtful meaningless things.  _ As a member of the host club, you are but an asset to me at best, commoner. Don’t presume your own importance. You are obligated to stay out of trouble until your debt is paid, at least. _

There are yet other things he could have said in light, things that would have been kinder, truer, and yet just as deceptive.  _ You scared Tamaki. You drove the twins to violence for you. Don't you see how they worry for you? _

But they’re in the dark, and Haruhi’s not dumb, and his hand is already shown. Kyouya has an infinite capacity for unkindnesses––but for once, he’s willing to admit that he doesn’t want to go through with this plan.

“Why didn’t you?” he repeats.

She cocks her head, answering frankly. “It didn’t occur to me.”

And the cold inside him _wails_ _. _

He clenches his jaw to keep from shouting at her, how completely unhelpful  _ that _ would be. But still more iron leaches into his tone than intended.

“And just why didn’t it occur to you?”

Haruhi’s chin jerks, eyes sparking. Oh, no.

“Well, those guys weren’t listening, so I didn’t have time to worry about how my  _ gender _ would impact things. I had to act.”

She’s not listening, and the water is growing more agitated.  _ Careless. Disrespectful. She should be afraid, and he can make her fear him.  _

Stomach lurching, he holds that thought in place. No. He  _ doesn’t _ want to hurt her. He  _ doesn’t _ want her to fear him.

This isn’t about Kyouya. It’s about Haruhi, and her safety.

How can he make her understand? How can he understand?

“I don’t disagree that something had to be done,” he starts. “Those girls were in real, immediate danger, and your intervention allowed Kurakano-kun to get the rest of the club to help. And Tamaki was being unreasonable by making the issue about your gender.”

Even this much is exhausting, so he sits down on the floor.

When she follows suit, her shoulders have settled a little from their taut hunch. Progress. He searches the dark and blurry bedroom for the next right words. But Haruhi finds them first.

“I know that rushing in to fight those guys was reckless,” she murmurs. “But the girls were scared. If I didn’t act, right away, they were going to be hurt.”

Kyouya pauses. She won’t like his next question. But he holds her gaze, intending to understand. 

“Had you considered that  _ you _ could get hurt, by intervening?”

Haruhi frowns. “After I hit the one, I knew they would focus on me. That was sort of the point, to get him to let go of Momoka-chan. But…” Her tone shifts into something more contemplative now. “I suppose I didn’t guard myself well, but how were my actions any different from Tamaki-senpai’s? He dove straight off the cliff to get to me, wasn’t that just as dangerous?”

She does have a point there. However good a swimmer he is, Tamaki had dived off the cliff without even looking. And yet...

True, Tamaki rushes into many reckless things to help others, but it’s never quite filled Kyouya with the same cold dread as Haruhi’s tumble off the cliff. And Tamaki has taken  _ many _ a tumble. Kyouya would know, after all.

Ah.

“Haruhi, if you were robbed in a foreign country and you didn’t speak the language and you had nothing on you but your cellphone and 1000 yen, what would you do?”

She startles. “Huh? I would… search for the embassy, I guess?”

“And if you had no idea where the embassy was?”

“I would... try to find a map?”

Hmm.

“And if you got locked out of your home at 3 AM in the morning?”

“Senpai, what is this about?” Her confusion has shifted into mild irritation.

“Humor me,” he says, unsmiling.

She throws her hands up in resignation. “I would… wait until my dad got home.”

“And if he was on a business trip? Or if it was storming?”   


“I would break in somehow.”

“And if someone at school was stealing your books and writing slurs on your desk?”

Rolling her eyes, she sighs out, “I would let the teacher know I needed new books, and clean off my desk before school. Senpai, this isn’t very funny.”

There’s a knock at his door. “Kyouya?” And it opens. “Do you have any lotion? This sunburn is worse than I-” 

Tamaki freezes in the doorway. Kyouya can’t see the look on his face, but he hardly needs to, with the perfect replica hissing steam in his mind. He has approximately three seconds to derail this explosion. Luckily, he has just the thing to reroute the wildly careening train that is Tamaki’s mind.

“What are you-” 

“Tamaki, after you got scammed and you were stranded on your own in Taiwan, what did you do?”

Tamaki blinks, recalibrating.

“Uh, I think I went to the embassy?”

“And how did you get  _ to  _ the embassy?”

“Hmm... Oh! I called you to ask for directions.” Walking over, he drops down to sit with them. His eyebrows are pinched––he wants to ask why, but still he lets Kyouya lead on.   


“Yes. In the middle of an investor meeting,” he adds to a perplexed Haruhi. “And what about that time when you tried to climb from your window to the roof and fell out of your bedroom, when you were too embarrassed to call for a maid to come unlock your own house at 3 AM?”

“I… called you and stayed over at your place.”

Haruhi makes a face at that, which is fair. Nonetheless.

This last one is a little more delicate. He softens his voice, and inclines his head toward Haruhi by way of explanation. “And when you were bullied by our xenophobic peers in middle school?”

“Ah,” Tamaki says, realization smoothing his brow. “I told you about it. And you blackmailed them within an inch of their lives, of course.” He grins at the memory, at Kyouya. It’s easy to smirk back, warm and wicked in equal measure. That plan he has  _ no _ regrets about.

Haruhi looks back and forth between them. He knows she’s still turning it over in her own mind. She is certainly smart enough to get it herself. But Kyouya decides anyway to take a page out of her book and be blunt, lest a mistranslation lead to regret later.

“The difference,” he explains, “is that whenever Tamaki  _ is _ in trouble, he calls.”

They sit in silence for a while, Haruhi with her face downturned, Kyouya watching, patient. Considering both of them with his own discerning gaze, Tamaki settles, too.

“I’m just not like that, though,” Haruhi concludes, at last. Her voice is a touch wistful.

Tamaki is very, very gentle with his next words, Kyouya notices. “You grew up pretty lonely, didn’t you, Haruhi? You had to deal with a lot on your own.”

She shrugs, though all three know it’s true. And then all at once, they’re thinking of mothers and childhoods lost, and the melancholy sets in heavily over them.

“You know, Kyouya grew up much the same,” he says.

Haruhi turns to look at a bewildered Kyouya, who pushes up his glasses on reflex. But Tamaki smiles, continuing.

“Yes, he’s someone I can always depend on. But he’s not very good at asking for help, either.” 

Kyouya glowers at the sheer  _ audacity, _ only to startle as they both look at him with eyes far too affectionate. He shifts in place and looks down instead.

“But he has the whole Host Club looking out for him. So that even though sometimes, he doesn’t ask out loud, we can see it. And we’ll help.” 

Here’s a pause. Tamaki swallows, leans forward, and bows.

“Haruhi, I’m sorry I yelled. I was angry because I was scared. That was my own fault, and you have every right to be upset.”

She rocks a little in her seat. “I’m sorry, as well. I don’t want to worry you guys.”

An absurd feeling grows in Kyouya’s chest. Half mirth, half despair.

Because he realizes: he doesn’t want her to be sorry at all anymore. She shouldn’t have to be sorry, she did nothing wrong _.  _ She acted to help, because it was more important to her than any consequence.

And now it’s clear: Haruhi has somehow become someone he truly cares about. Like Tamaki. Haruhi is something precious. Completely an agent of her own, and so trusting, and so kind. She’s earnest. She’s inherently  _ good. _ He just wants her to be safe.

And he will never have any control over that.

The hysteria swells, threatening the structural integrity of his ribcage. All of the understanding he’s earned still won’t stop the fear that’s been crashing through him this whole night. He chokes down the laughter bubbling up and in his sheer desperation, looks at Tamaki.

It takes only one moment for Tamaki to read Kyouya’s distress, and in the next, he’s grabbing his hand, squeezing tight. And then he extends one to Haruhi.

“Haruhi, you don’t ever have to face things alone again. Will you let us be there for you?”

Kyouya has no control over how hard he squeezes Tamaki’s hand as they wait.  He watches Haruhi’s own hands curl on her lap. 

"I won’t be very good at it.”

"We aren’t either,” he says. She huffs. “It’s about the trying. T ogether .”

When she looks up, he's ready. Her eyes are searching, so he makes sure his own gaze is steadfast. He almost missed ever having this opportunity, he's fully aware. He won't let her down again.

“Okay,” she whispers. And takes Tamaki’s hand.

Relief blooms tangibly in the air. Haruhi’s eyes crinkle at Tamaki's relieved laugh. She opens her mouth to say something else, and-

Thunder shatters the room. Haruhi squeaks, yanking on his hand and hunching.

“Haruhi?” Tamaki leans forward, but-

Lightning strikes again, closer this time, and Kyouya feels the thunder slam into his eardrums. Haruhi yelps, trembling violently. She looks around the room, spots his dresser, and stands.

“Sorry! I- I uh- have to go now!”

“Don’t hide in the dresser,” Kyouya says, then feels foolish. Where had that thought come from? Why would she-?

But then she starts climbing into his dresser, and he and Tamaki have to hold the doors open.

“What- why would-? Haruhi, are you afraid of thunder?”

“It’s fine, I’ll be fine, this is how I always get through it,” she stammers, curling up inside.

“Not anymore,” says Tamaki, and pulls her out into a hug.

“We have an American-style basement. It should be soundproof there, and there won’t be any flashing. Let’s head down now,” Kyouya decides.

“I can’t- I’m not going to make it.”

“Close your eyes and cover your ears. We’ll get you there safe,” promises the Host Club prince.

“Okay,” she whispers.

Somehow they make it, the three of them hobbling to the basement. And somehow, the others find them, and they play games and music until they're almost all asleep on the various couches. 

Kyouya’s turned off the lights and is just throwing a blanket over the twins when he hears her.

He’d thought she was asleep when he’d passed to drape a blanket over her on her own couch. Maybe she’s sleep talking, or maybe she woke up again. Either way, he stills, hoping she won’t spot him.

“You guys are even nicer than I thought,” she murmurs to the dark room. “Thank you, Kyouya-senpai.”

And despite himself, he smiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What I love about this chapter is 1) it's kyouya's bday happy birth! and 2) you can tell im in love with all three, the bisexual in me really did that LOLOLOL
> 
> thanks for your comments, will rpely when im not dying and would lvoe to hear more. even if this chapter made u uncomfy and you dont like it, tell me about it

**Author's Note:**

> yeah this episode lowkey triggered me and not in a meme way. so i'm fixing it. i understand that some people found this dynamic hot and like i guess that's for other people to enjoy because it is fiction, but like i antivibed with that so hard and i think that there were lots of other ways to get in kyoharu fanservice that didn't involve rape????
> 
> my logical thorough cynical kyouya is allowed to make mistakes but not if he threatens rape and then gets validated by the show?? my strong reasonable sometimes oblivious haruhi is allowed to be vulnerable but what the heck is your problem?? why would you do this to her???
> 
> if ur angry pls rant at me in the comments bc i am and i think its fair that we'd want to talk about it. also if u have suggestions for other endings you want to see, let me know. also let me know what you think in general, even if you disagree with my alternatives scene/characterization/views about this in general.
> 
> in general the thing i want to get at is: haruhi deserved better, she did a brave and just thing and sexism doesnt render that untrue in any capacity.
> 
> oh also none of this is beta read bc this is more of a rantfic than a real fic so feel free to point out silly typos :)


End file.
